BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 955
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Adam Gray, Chair
AB 955
(Mathis) - As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Disaster assistance: droughts: temporary assistance
SUMMARY: Authorizes the Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)
to establish a model process to address the effects of a drought
by providing temporary water supplies for drinking and
sanitation to property owners. Would require the process to
consider, among other things, the role of the office in
providing temporary water supplies for drinking and sanitation
to property owners, and to include provisions that would allow
for temporary assistance to property owners whose income exceed
a threshold established by the office, as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes Cal OES, pursuant to the California Disaster
Assistance Act (CDAA), to establish a process to address the
effects of a drought by providing temporary water supplies for
drinking and sanitation to property owners as follows:
a) Providing temporary water supplies to property owners for
drinking and sanitation
through collaboration with local agencies or non-profit
organizations
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b) Establishment of income thresholds above the Cal OES
determines a property owner has
adequate resources to remedy the water quality or water supply
problem without need for
temporary assistance by the state.
c) Provides that if the property owner's income exceeds those
limits set by OES, temporary
assistance may be provided if the property owner agrees to
reimburse the state for the full cost
of that assistance.
d) If the property owner with income above the threshold
demonstrates that he/she cannot
afford to reimburse the state, allows Cal OES to provide a
low-interest loan (1% maximum
interest rate) for those purposes (to the extent that moneys are
appropriated by the Legislature for
those purposes).
2) Defines "property owner" to include the owner of a home,
rental housing, multifamily housing, or a small business with 25
or fewer employees.
3) Provides that this shall not be construed to force any
property owner to accept assistance from Cal OES.
4) Requires the recipient of any assistance from the state to
agree to hold the state harmless for any damages resulting from
the provision of assistance.
5) Allows Cal OES to adopt emergency regulations as necessary
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to carry out these purposes.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Establishes Cal OES by the Governor's Reorganization Plan
No.2, operative July 1, 2013.
2) Requires Cal OES to perform a variety of duties with respect
to specified emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response
activities in the state, including emergency medical
services.
3) Specifies that the State Emergency Plan (SEP) shall be in
effect in each political subdivision of the state, and the
governing body of each political subdivision shall take such
action as may be necessary to carry out the provisions
thereof.
4) Requires the Governor to coordinate SEP and those programs
necessary to mitigate the effects of an emergency.
5) Requires the Governor to coordinate the preparation of plans
and programs for the mitigation of the effects of an
emergency by the political subdivisions of the State of
California, such plans and programs to be integrated into and
coordinated with the State Emergency Plan and the plans and
programs of the federal government and of other states to the
fullest possible extent.
6) Specifies that the Governor may, in accordance with SEP and
programs for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency in
this state:
a) Ascertain the requirements of the state or its political
subdivisions for food, clothing, and other necessities of
life in an event of an emergency.
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b) Plan for, procure, and pre-position supplies, medicines,
materials, and equipment.
c) Use and employ any of the property, services, and
resources of the state.
d) Provide for the approval of local emergency plans.
e) Provide for mobile support units.
f) Provide for use of public airports.
g) Institute training programs and public information
programs.
h) Make surveys of the industries, resources, and
facilities, both public and private, within the state.
Plan for the use of any private facilities, services, and
property and, when necessary, and when in fact used,
provide for payment for that use under the terms and
conditions as may be agreed upon.
i) Take all other preparatory steps, including the partial
or full mobilization of emergency organizations in advance
of an actual emergency; and order those test exercises
needed to insure the furnishing of adequately trained and
equipped personnel in time of need.
7) Establishes (CDAA) which authorizes:
a) The Director of Cal OES to allocate funds for various
local agency and state costs
associated with natural disasters.
b) Moneys appropriated by the director to be used for local
agency, emergency, personnel costs eligible for funding or
reimbursement under federal law.
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c) Moneys appropriated by the director to be used for costs
of replacing, repairing, restoring, or reconstructing facilities
belonging to local agencies damaged as a result of natural
disasters or human-caused emergencies.
d) The Governor to use available emergency funding to provide
guarantees for interim loans to
be made by lending institutions, in connection with relief
provided for those persons
affected by disasters or a state of emergency in affected areas
during periods of disaster relief
assistance, for the purpose of supplying interim financing to
enable small businesses to
continue operations pending receipt of federal disaster
assistance. The Governor should
utilize this authority to prevent business insolvencies and loss
of employment in areas
affected by these disasters.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill : According to the author: Residents of East
Porterville, CA are nearly completely reliant upon individual
groundwater wells, the vast majority of which have run dry and
left residents without water for drinking or basic sanitation.
In response, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-26-14 and
ordered Cal OES to provide assistance to local agencies pursuant
to the CDAA.
The CDAA allows the state to provide financial assistance to
local agencies in the event of a disaster or local emergency.
Eligible expenses include personnel costs, equipment costs, the
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cost of supplies, and materials used during disaster response
activities and costs to repair, restore, reconstruct, or replace
local agency facilities.
Under the Order, OES is providing temporary water supplies to
individual homeowners, but had refused to provide any assistance
to those living in rental homes, apartment buildings, or small
businesses.
The result of this interpretation of the CDAA is that one
neighbor who owns his home may be provided with temporary water
supplies by the state, but his neighbor who lives in a rental
home may be dependent upon donations from private organizations
to get access to water to drink or to even flush a toilet. This
bill will clarify that Cal OES can provide assistance and
temporary water supplies to all residents in drought stricken
areas, not just those who own their own homes.
State Emergency Plan : The State of California Emergency Plan
addresses the state's response to extraordinary emergency
situations associated with natural disasters or human-caused
emergencies. In accordance with the California Emergency
Services Act, the plan describes the methods for carrying out
emergency operations, the process for rendering mutual aid, the
emergency services of governmental agencies, how resources are
mobilized, how the public will be informed and the process to
ensure continuity of government during and emergency or
disaster.
The plan is a management document intended to be read and
understood before an emergency occurs. It is designed to
outline the activities of all California jurisdictions within a
statewide emergency management system and it embraces the
capabilities and resources in the broader emergency management
community that includes individuals, businesses,
non-governmental organizations, tribal governments, other
states, federal government and international assistance.
Background : Several actions have been taken by the
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Administration and the Legislature in response to the drought,
amongst them include:
1) On September 9, 2014, the Governor issued Executive
Order B-26-14, which requires OES to provide local
government assistance as it deems appropriate for the
purposes of providing temporary water supplies to
households without water for drinking and/or sanitation
purposes under the authority of the CDAA.
2) AB 91 (Assembly Committee on Budget) and AB 92 (Assembly
Committee on Budget) were chaptered into law March 2015.
These companion bills, amongst other things, Accelerates
the appropriation of $272 million from Proposition 1 Water
Bond funding for safe drinking water and water recycling
from the Governor's January budget proposal.
Accelerates drought related expenditures from the
Governor's January budget proposal augmented $27.2 million
in targeted additional expenditures ($128 million in
total), including efforts to implement the Water Action
Plan and provide direct assistance to workers and
communities impacted by drought.
Policy Considerations : 1) The committee may wish to consider
whether it is appropriate for OES to provide direct services, a
responsibility generally left to local governments and agencies.
Under the authority of the CDAA and Executive Order B-26-14, Cal
OES is authorized to provide temporary local government
assistance to communities severely impacted by the drought.
Ostensibly, the assistance would go to local governments and
agencies, which would then provide individual households and
businesses with temporary water supplies for drinking water
and/or sanitation purposes. AB 955 offers a different approach
by establishing a path to providing assistance that does not
currently exist: Cal OES provides direct services to households
and businesses. This begs the question of whether, or not, Cal
OES is equipped to bypass local agencies and provide emergency
services directly to locals.
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2) The Committee may wish to consider whether it is appropriate
for OES to engage in lending and collection services. SB 955
authorizes Cal OES to provide a loan at an interest rate of no
more than 1 percent to a property owner should their income
exceed the determined threshold. Lending and collection services
are not responsibilities that Cal OES has performed in the past.
Related Legislation:
AB 91 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 1, Statutes of 2015.
Amended the 2014-15 Budget Act to include new appropriations to
address the state's urgent drought needs. Proposed expenditures
of $1.059 million for drought-related activities.
AB 92 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 1, Statutes of 2015.
Contained necessary statutory and technical changes to implement
AB 91 (Budget Committee). This bill, along with AB 91, proposes
expenditures of $1.059 million for drought-related activities.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Clean Water Action California
Community Water Center
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Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Kenton Stanhope / G.O. / (916) 319-2531